A major retrospective celebrating the extraordinary 40-year career of renowned Western Australian ceramic artist Pippin Drysdale opened in December at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, showcasing the 82-year-old artist's prolific body of work through April 6, 2026. The exhibition, titled "Infinite Terrain," represents a significant milestone for Drysdale, who has become one of Australia's most celebrated ceramic artists despite beginning her pottery career relatively late in life. The retrospective's creation stems from a spirited encounter between Drysdale and AGWA director Colin Walker at a private gallery opening several years ago, when the outspoken artist candidly told him the gallery didn't "give a rat's arse" about her work—prompting Walker to promise to change that perception.
The mammoth undertaking of curating four decades of work fell to Isobel Wise, who spent considerable time tracking down pieces from private collections, galleries, and museums to create a comprehensive narrative of Drysdale's artistic evolution. "Isobel has done an amazing job," Drysdale acknowledged. "I was battling with her in the beginning and somehow, it's like the taming of the shrew—I'm not easy. She has pushed on and for me to have that privilege of suddenly feeling that my whole journey has come together; it's creating for me a wonderful sense of how much I've done." The exhibition traces Drysdale's transformation from her early experiments in the 1980s to her current large-scale sculptural works, revealing a career marked by constant reinvention and bold artistic risks.
Born in Melbourne in 1943 and raised in Perth, Drysdale pursued several creative enterprises before discovering ceramics in 1981 at age 38, including growing herbs and crafting paper flowers. She enrolled in a three-year diploma program at Perth Technical College, which she describes as "three-year madness," before selling her early work at the Fremantle Arts Centre to fund a transformative year of study at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado. "I filled the car up, took them all down to the Freo arts centre to flog them, came home with $5,500 cash and threw it on the floor and said 'I'm going to America,'" she recalled. After further studies at Curtin University, Drysdale embarked on a series of journeys that would profoundly shape her artistic vision, including a residency in Tomsk, Siberia, shortly after Russia opened to the West, and extensive travels through remote regions of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Since 1992, Drysdale has collaborated with fellow potter Warrick Palmateer, who throws the exquisite porcelain vessels that serve as her canvas. "He has been a pivotal part of my practice. I'm sure I would never have existed if I hadn't had Warrick in my life," she stated. Palmateer sparked a major creative shift in 2016 when he suggested they explore the Karlu Karlu/Devil's Marbles, a series of precariously balanced granite boulders in the Northern Territory. This inspiration led Drysdale to move away from symmetrical, open vessels toward more organic, closed forms that mimic natural rock formations. The transition required a year of experimentation to perfect techniques that would prevent the asymmetrical pieces from cracking during firing, but the result opened an entirely new chapter in her artistic practice.
At 82, Drysdale maintains the energy and humor that have characterized her career, working daily in the Fremantle cottage studio her father purchased decades ago. The space is stocked with pure white porcelain vessels awaiting the painstaking processes of glazing, etching, and sanding that define her method. "There's so many parts to it and you can never rest on your laurel. You have a little run where it's fabulous then the kiln starts playing up and you just aren't getting the glazes to fuse. You're never in the safe zone, I can tell you, it's always a drama," she explained. Despite the technical challenges, Drysdale approaches her work with characteristic optimism, acknowledging that she has been "born under a lucky star" and has enjoyed "the most amazing journey of a lifetime."
The "Infinite Terrain" retrospective at AGWA showcases Drysdale's work on wide plinths that allow visitors to experience the pieces without glass barriers, creating an intimate connection with the ceramic landscapes. Her work is now collected internationally, including by Peregrine Cavendish, the 12th Duke of Devonshire, who has become a friend and champion of her art. After a brief December break, Drysdale will return to her studio in January to begin work on her next exhibition, demonstrating that even at 82, she remains committed to pushing her artistic boundaries. The retrospective not only celebrates her remarkable career but also cements her legacy as one of Australia's most innovative and enduring ceramic artists, whose work continues to evolve and inspire.
